


Curiosity

by lukefonfabre



Category: Tales of the Abyss
Genre: Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 04:22:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2177712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lukefonfabre/pseuds/lukefonfabre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You're loath to admit your mirror shows what you keep hidden.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Curiosity

**Author's Note:**

> What-if insight into Luke and Asch's conversations during their connection at Belkend. Spoilers for after Akzeriuth.

By the time Asch and the rest of the group had made it to Belkend he found that, inside his head, it had grown suspiciously quiet. Unused to not hearing the replica go on some merciless tirade about this being annoying or that being stupid, his interest was piqued at would could've possibly silenced him.

He was _not_ curious.

"Dreck."

Nothing. Not even an indignant response refuting the insult.

"Replica." His tone grew harsh.

Once again, silence.

There was no stir inside his mind, no huff or sigh. He actually felt dread pool into his stomach. _If that dreck died on him--_

He heard a tentative voice call. "Asch? Did you say something?"

"Finally. I was trying to get your attention, what's _with_ you?" He snapped.

Luke would swear he frowned but being unconscious in the real world and having to communicate via a _brain link_ would clearly negate his displeased disposition. Why did Asch have to be so mean all the time?

Luke yielded with a sigh. "What did you want anyways?"

"Nothing in particular," Asch offered. "Your silence creeped me out."

If he could pinch the bridge of his nose, Luke would have. "Yeah, well, excuse me for not talking. I thought you'd be _fine_ with that--you always whine about how I need to shut up."

"I don't whine," Asch shot back. He sounded petulant, Luke thought. "And I don't sound petulant."

Luke made a startled noised. "You heard that?"

"Of course I heard it. We're _connected_ up here." Asch probably made some motion to tap at his head, however it was clearly lost on Luke. "Could you be any more of a moron?"

"Shut up, Asch. You know more about this than I do. The least you could do is explain this whole thing to me nicely."

"I'm not going to be nice to a piece of trash like you," the oracle knight hissed, the vehemence obvious in his voice.

Luke recoiled. He should've been used to the absolute malice Asch exerted, especially since he was the source of it. But, the prospect that all of this should be familiar--that he should be acquainted with being hated--didn't help nurse the pain it struck every time and he felt all the more terrible for trying to make demands from his original. He _was_ just a replica after all. 

"Yeah," Luke mumbled. "I don't expect you to. Sorry, Asch."

_What? Why was he apologizing?_

"Whatever," Asch spat. _Don't feel bad for him._ "You never answered my question, by the way. 

Luke fell back into the comfortable recesses of Asch's mind, choosing to muse over his thoughts--though he figured that was pointless, given their circumstances--before he worded them.

"I was thinking," he said flatly.

"No kidding," his original sneered. "What were you thinking _about_?"

"Nothing in particular, " Luke echoed and he managed a laugh at Asch's frustrated noise.

"Don't copy me, dreck. And answer the question seriously."

"Like I said, it wasn't really anything in specific. I was just thinking."

At this point, Asch cursed himself for not tapping deeper into the link before so as to find out what this idiot of a replica was hiding. It'd be eavesdropping, in a technical sense, but like he cared for how a replica felt about that.

"Look, why do you care so much?" Luke asked.

Asch blinked. Why did he care so much? What was so compelling about this that made him inquire? About his replica's innermost thoughts none the less? Maybe, he guessed, that it was his curiosity. Curiosity at what could possibly trouble Luke, someone who gave no time or attention to his problems due to the fact that he had none.

Or, that wasn't right either.

Luke has problems now. A lot of problems. And Asch could say he was the start of some of them. _All of them._

_\--No! Luke was his problem, not the other way around._

Still, being that they were perfect isofons and--Asch would die before he admitted it--he saw similarities between them, he could grasp just barely at what might be causing the replica to ponder so intensely.  
He ventured to pull more information out of him. _Not_ to sate his curiosity.

"It's your friends, isn't it?"

The silence enveloped his mind again and it almost felt like the air in Belkend had thinned considerably. All these unspoken thoughts, the quiet of his mind, the idea that Luke could be shaken to his core like this, it was nerve-wracking. Asch had realized that. It didn't mean he felt _for_ the replica, but he _had_ felt that similar nagging idea that he was quite plainly put, unwanted. He supposed Luke wouldn't respond and was apt to drop the subject there. However before he could, and he might have sworn he imagined it, as it was spoken low--lower than a whisper--and unimaginably pained, there came an answer.

_"Yeah."_

Asch faltered, unusually nonplussed by the answer.

"Well, you got your answer," Luke added, his tone a touch sour. "Happy now?"

And the oracle knight moved to argue, agitated by his replica's snarky quip but he stopped--what was the point? He'd only be adding fuel to the fire and it wasn't like it'd get either of them anywhere.

"Yeah," Asch said--surprising himself. _Now we're both doing this stupid echo._

Luke felt sceptical but didn't press the issue; he was content Asch hadn't tried to stir more trouble up between them.

"Don't start thinking about stupid things, though. Your friends will come back to you. You'll all get over this. So," Luke wondered if this was Asch's odd way of trying to make him feel better. He guessed it worked by way of how it was gradually getting his mind off the subject. Still, that hint of aggression annoyed him. "Stop moping."

"Alright, geeze," the replica conceded. "I won't. Or I guess... I'll try not to. Thanks, Asch. I didn't expect to hear anything like that coming from you, though." Luke sounded amused to which Asch responded by snapping at him.

"Shut up. I didn't say it for you, I said it so you'd stop being a nuisance in my head. It interrupts _my_ thoughts, you know."

"Okay, okay. Man, you could just accept my gratitude like a normal person."

"I'm turning this connection off."

"Hey, wait, _Asch **don't you d--!**_ "


End file.
